


Infection

by Their_Destinys_Writer



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Infection!AU, Ladynoir July, cataclysm gone wrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-06-01 02:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 18,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15132866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Their_Destinys_Writer/pseuds/Their_Destinys_Writer
Summary: When Chat Noir accidentally touches Ladybug with Cataclysm, the heroes must find a way to reverse the damage inflicted by the power of destruction. But will they succeed, before it's too late?Long running story for Ladynoir July.Based on the Infection!AU by @thebirdfromthemoon-art from Tumblr





	1. First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the Infection!AU by @thebirdfromthemoon-art from Tumblr
> 
> I am officially insane, but hey, what’s a challenge if it’s not insane. Inspired by the amazing @perditaalottachocolate-blog (Tumblr and AO3) who wrote a magnificent full story for Adrinette April, called April Weather (if you haven't read yet, read it as soon as you can). I am attempting to do the same for Ladynoir July.

This was Chat Noir’s doing. He was definitely responsible for this. It was always with his ideas that they ended up in precarious situations. This time, hanging upside down, rolled up in Ladybug’s yo-yo, much like their first encounter ever.  Except that instead of the middle of the street, they were in an alleyway.

“I told you this was a bad idea,” Ladybug deadpanned.

“It would’ve worked if you hadn’t taken that last leap,” Chat Noir sighed, with mock lament. “But I guess we can discard that move from our repertoire.”

“It’s too complicated to use in a fight,” the spotted heroine reasoned.

“It was worth a shot, though.”

“I guess.”

As soon as she finished talking, Chat Noir’s baton gave in to the weight, making the two heroes crash in a tangle of limbs and string. After a collective ‘ow’, they started picking off the mess. Ladybug couldn’t help but be strongly reminded of when they first met. It had been very much like this. Of course, that time they hadn’t been trying to create a new fighting move. Quite the contrary.

“What are you smiling about?” Chat Noir asked suddenly, placing his baton back on its place.

The girl lifted a hand to her lips. She hadn’t been aware she was expressing herself with her face. Yet she wasn’t embarrassed.

“Nothing, I just…” she giggled, placing the yo-yo back on her hip. “I was just thinking this is pretty much how we met.”

Chat Noir’s ears perked up. “Oh. Heh, you’re right.” He smirked and wiggled his brows. “You fell for me on our very first date.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes fondly. “You know very well it was an accident.”

“One of my favorite ones,” he chirped.

“Chat,” Ladybug mildly scolded. He simply grinned at her, causing a smile of her own. “So you have a list of favorite accidents?”

“Of course! Let’s see,” Chat Noir started docking off his fingers. “There was the time you saved me from the falling bus, where you ended up hitting my head with your yo-yo. Then there was the time when we crashed into Alya’s apartment on Christmas. There was also the time when you almost broke my arm, thinking I was possessed—”

“Alright, I get the picture,” Ladybug pouted, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. “You must’ve thought I was total idiot that first day.”

“Clumsy, sure.” Chat Noir stated with a shrug. “But not an idiot.”

“Really?” the girl drawled, squinting her eyes at him.

“We just got off on a bumpy start,” the boy responded with a matter-of-factly tone. “But that aside, I thought you were pretty cool. Yeah, a little self-conscious and riddled with self-doubt, but very smart. And then I saw you get rid of over a hundred akumas at once, and the rest is history.”

“Oh, right,” Ladybug limited herself to say. She guessed that was the moment he fell for her. There was no need to bring that up.

“If anything, I must’ve come off as the biggest idiot in Paris,” Chat Noir chuckled. “If it hadn’t been for you, we would’ve had a skyscraper sized Stoneheart to deal with.”

“Not at all,” Ladybug giggled. “Reckless and impulsive, sure. But not an idiot,” she parroted him. “I admired your confidence, to be honest. And when you used that confidence to help me believe in myself, I knew you’d be the perfect partner for me.”

She looked up to the blond before her, who suddenly looked sheepish. Well, that was nicer than flaunting about her compliments. Although, she had to admit his demeanor had slightly changed since he confessed. And the change was…endearing.

Chat Noir cleared his throat. “We’ve come pretty far, haven’t we?”

“Yeah,” Ladybug grinned. “And all this time has proven me right: you _are_ the perfect partner for me.”

“Aww,” Chat Noir blushed. “Oh shucks. You’re just saying that, M’Lady. I know you’re in cahoots with Rena Rouge.”

The girl barked out a laugh. “Well, she _is_ great.”

“Hey!”

“But she’s no Chat Noir,” she finished teasingly.

The boy pouted, while Ladybug continued to chuckle under her breath. After a while, he couldn’t pretend to be mad anymore, finally giving in to that grin that he had been trying to hold in. He opened his mouth to say something, but just then, screams where heard from a distance.

Ladybug and Chat Noir quickly turned in the direction of the noise, poses of high alert. It took a glimpse at each other to know what was going on:

Akuma.


	2. Akuma

Ladybug and Chat Noir ran in the direction from where people were running. As drops of rain started falling, they realized the commotion was coming from _jardin des Tuileries_. They sped up, but had to stop almost immediately when what looked like a portal appeared out of nowhere. From the circular energy object, several confused citizens appeared, before it vanished.

“Looks like we missed our ride,” Chat Noir quipped.

“I wouldn’t trust that method of transportation,” Ladybug retorted. “I think it’s best we get there the old-fashioned way.”

“As you wish, Buginette,” the boy agreed, extending an arm to lead the way.

Ladybug ran forward, her partner following in tow. They reached a circular fountain, when their path was suddenly blocked by a skinny man in a grey leotard, with a glowing turquoise circle on his chest, plus three floating neon circles around each arm, and four around each leg. His mask had round designs in the same shade as the circles. And he was showing the palm of his hand towards the two teenagers.

“Took you long enough to show up,” the man scoffed.

“We decided to take the long route,” Chat Noir said, taking out his baton and turning it into a staff.

“And who may you be?” Ladybug asked, grabbing her weapon from its place on her hip.

“I’m _Le Transporteur_. And I’ve had enough of this overpopulated city.”

The akuma’s hand suddenly glowed and a beam shot only a few centimeters of distance, creating a portal in front of him. At the same time, Ladybug felt a strange energy behind her. The two heroes turned on their heels just in time to see Le Transporteur push Chat Noir into a new portal behind the hero.

Chat Noir screamed, but the noise was suddenly far, followed by the sound of rustling leaves. The akuma was about to do the same on Ladybug, but she ducked and grabbed the man by the arm, pulling him into the portal instead. There was a splash in the distance, indicating she would have landed in one of the fountains in the park.

She then turned to where she heard Chat Noir fall earlier and called out to him.

“I’m okay!” Chat Noir yelled from a tree, a thumbs-up poking out from the branches.

Ladybug let out a sigh of relief, before turning her attention back to Le Transporteur, just in time to dodge a beam thrown against her. Behind her now, the beam turned into a new portal, from where a drenched villain walked out.

“Grr, you little wench,” he growled.

“It’s not like you weren’t getting wet already,” Ladybug snarked, referring to the light drizzle that was starting to intensify.

The man then threw another beam. Ladybug tried deflecting it with her yo-yo, but instead, the moment it touched it, another portal was created. The teen girl tumbled into the void unintentionally, and ended up falling into a tree.

“I thought only cats got stuck on trees,” a voice from below called. “Need a hand, LB?”

Ladybug turned to see Chat Noir perched on his staff, elongated high enough to reach her.

“Thanks, Chaton.” The girl accepted his extended hand.

The two dropped to the grass and Ladybug started picking leaves off. Chat Noir was about to run off towards the villain, but the spotted heroine grabbed his tail just in time.

“Easy there, Minou.” The boy stopped to look at her. “We can’t just run towards him and expect to hit him. We don’t even know where the akuma is.”

“It’s in his ring,” Chat Noir responded casually, fully turning to her now.

Ladybug blinked. “He wears a ring?”

“Yeah,” the boy shrugged. “I saw it when he pushed me. All we gotta do is get the ring, and it’s another job well done for Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“It’s not that simple,” the spotted heroine thought out loud, rubbing her chin. “One of us needs to distract him while the other gets the ring. Make sure he uses his power on whomever is the bait, so the other doesn’t get sucked into a portal.”

“If we’re talking about a sneak attack—”

“—You’re the cat for the job,” Ladybug finished, smiling at her partner.

Chat Noir returned the grin with one of his own, already formulating the idea.

“So, what’s the plan, M’Lady?”

* * *

“Why don’t you try to find me?!” Ladybug yelled into the open space, but keeping close to the trees.

 _Please, be careful_ , the girl internally prayed. It was a risky plan, they knew that. But they had to try. She wiped her wet bangs away from her eyes, trying to keep them trained on their target. Lucky for them, Le Transporteur took the bait. He shot a beam in front of him, and a portal appeared out of nowhere near Ladybug. From it came the villain.

“And they say you’re smart,” he scoffed, already extending his hand. “I should throw you off the Eiffel Tower. But first, those miraculous.”

The beam shot, but Ladybug rapidly dodged it. She continued doing so for several minutes, leading Le Transporteur deeper into the wooded area of the park. To where Chat Noir had a better vantage point for his attack.

Suddenly, a black blur jumped from the trees, with a hand bubbling with destruction power. Unfortunately, the akuma caught sight of Ladybug’s shift in vision and jumped out of the way just in time. Chat Noir landed on the ground, yet managed to keep Cataclysm intact. With the rush of adrenaline, he ran towards the villain.

Before Chat Noir could reach him, though, Le Transporteur turned on his heels and extended his hand once more to create a portal on the hero’s way. The boy tried to stop, but it only caused him to trip. He was then sent tumbling into the portal, stumbling directly into Ladybug.


	3. Lucky Charm and Cataclysm

No matter how hard Chat Noir tried to stop, it was too late. His hand landed on Ladybug’s hip.

It hadn’t been intentional. Of course it wasn’t intentional. Chat Noir would never touch anyone with Cataclysm. They had both known the plan was risky anyway.

Yet it didn’t change the fact that Ladybug’s skin felt like it was burning both hot and cold at the same time. That it hurt so much, it almost instantly felt numb. Or was that her consciousness leaving her? There was someone screaming. Chat? No. The scream was coming from her. Why did it sound so distant?

Was she screaming again? It didn’t sound like her voice. Why would she be screaming again? And where had the ground gone? Hadn’t she been standing? Why were they still yelling?

“LADYBUG!” The voice of Chat Noir finally got through the haze. “Please talk to me! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please say something!”

Ladybug blinked, but the rain made it hard for her eyes to fully open. Her throat ached from the blood curling scream she let out before. She tried to say something, but her breath was coming in short pants, only letting out a pained groan.

“Don’t move,” Chat Noir said above her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll fall.”

Three more blinks, and Ladybug could see the shrubbery surrounding then. She could feel the hard trunk underneath her. How had she gotten there?

“Chat,” she whispered. “What’s…going on?”

The boy gave her a pained look. “I’m so sorry,” he choked. “I didn’t mean to. I tried to stop, but…”

“I-I know,” Ladybug forced out. “We n-need to…beat the akuma.”

“Ladybug, you’re hurt.”

“I’ll be fine—”

“No, you won’t!”

Ladybug frowned. She was about to ask why he was so worried, when she felt that sharp pain again on her hip. She hissed and looked down, only to be horrified by what she saw: there was a hand shaped black spot, with dozens of lightning bolt looking marks going from her hip to her left underarm, her chest, her stomach and left leg. While it looked like it was on the suit, she could feel it on her skin. The farther from the point, the less it hurt. But it hurt nonetheless.

“Was this Cataclysm?!” Ladybug screeched, hurting her throat once again.

When she didn’t get a response, she looked up to her partner’s face, only to see a tear roll down his face. Her eyes widened. In her haze, she had thought he simply fell on her, not that he touched her with the power of destruction. But now that she thought about it, that explained the excruciating pain she felt when he landed on her. It also explained why she didn’t remember them getting up to this tree.

“I’m sorry!” Chat Noir said again, shutting his eyes and letting down more tears. “I’m so sorry! I thought I could—”

“Where did you two run off to?!” Someone in the distance yelled. Le Transporteur, most likely.

The two heroes looked at each other, concerned, for very different reasons.

“Miraculous Cure can fix anything,” Ladybug said, clutching at her side. “If we beat the akuma, we can fix this. I’ll be fine.”

“And how are we supposed to beat him when you’re hurt?”

Ladybug looked at the yo-yo in her hand. With as much strength as she could, she threw it in the air and called on her Lucky Charm. On her lap landed a pair of spotted handcuffs. She stared at them for a moment, thinking on how they could be used.

“Okay,” she started. “I’m gonna need you to do this, with me as bait again.”

* * *

Ladybug was leaning against the statue that was close by the tree they had been on moments ago, waiting on Le Transporteur. It had to work this time. It wasn’t as risky as before, that was for sure. She really should’ve thought it better earlier.

The teen clutched her side again. That guy sure was taking his time. She looked up at the statue, trying to distract herself from the pain. But the vision of two lions attacking a bull didn’t do her much good. At that moment, she felt very much like that bull.

“You think I’ll fall for the same trick twice?” the villainous voice of Le Transporteur said from behind the statue

Ladybug stepped to the side, but remained leaning to the statue. A grunt of pain escaped her lips, and the akuma stepped in front of her.

“You can’t even defend yourself,” Le Transporteur huffed. He took a look behind him, as if making sure Chat Noir wasn’t there. “This will be a piece of cake.”

“You’re right,” Ladybug responded, wincing. “I can’t defend myself. But I can do this!”

With a lagging movement, she wrapped her yo-yo around his wrist and pulled. The akuma stumbled, but not enough to fall. What was worse, he started chuckling.

“Wrong hand,” he said.

He raised his other hand, but before he could use his power, Chat Noir jumped down from the statue. In the blink of an eye, he caught Le Transporteur’s wrist with one of the handcuffs, while the other one was attached to his own.

“Oh, look at that, we’re bonding,” Chat Noir quipped. Yet, some of his usual humor in his tone was gone.

The two of them struggled. The akuma tried using his power against Chat Noir, but wherever he sent him, the other two were dragged. After the third portal they went through, Ladybug was starting to lose her grip on her yo-yo.

“Chat, the ring!”

On cue, Chat Noir plucked the ring off Le Transporteur, disabling his powers. Immediately after, he dropped it to the ground and crushed it with his foot. As quickly as her body allowed, Ladybug unwrapped her yo-yo and caught the pesky butterfly.

With the battle over, her partner handed over the handcuffs. Taking a deep breath, Ladybug threw it in the air, yelling the magical words to restore everything damaged. After the ladybugs circled the city, they washed over Ladybug herself, erasing the black substance from her suit.

Before she could lift her fist for their traditional bump, Chat Noir had grabbed her bridal style and took her to a nearby rooftop.

“Can you walk?” he asked breathlessly, ignoring how his ring gave a fourth beep. “Does it still hurt? How’s the suit? How are _you_ beneath the suit? Did it leave any permanent damage?”

“Chat!” Ladybug grabbed the boy’s cheeks. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine. The Miraculous Cure took care of everything. You don’t have to worry about me.”

Chat Noir’s shoulders slumped, just as his cat-ears flattened. He opened his mouth to protest again, but the spotted heroine cut him off.

“And you’re about to detransform,” she pointed out. “I’m fine. Trust me, Chaton. Now go home.”

With a last defeated sigh and a look at his ring, Chat Noir did as instructed. “Call me if anything!” he yelled from the distance.

“Will do!” Ladybug yelled back.

Once out of sight, the girl felt the liberty to fall to her knees. While she had assured him she felt fine, the truth was that she felt more tired than usual. Ladybug wasn’t sure what caused it, whether it was remnants of what she went through or the amount of power it took to fix it. Whatever the reason, she needed sleep.

With as much energy as she could muster, Ladybug swung her way to her house. The second she landed on the balcony, her transformation faded away. Marinette suddenly felt beyond exhausted. A spot on her hip stung, but she figured it was ghost pain from earlier. The events of the night were going to be hard to forget, but perhaps a good night’s sleep could help mend that.

Without uttering a word and not caring for the rain that was still falling, the girl opened the hatch to her room and collapsed on her bed. Shower and teeth be damned. She heard Tikki ask something, but she waved her hand dismissively. Marinette just wanted to sleep.

* * *

A soft ray of sunshine shone on Marinette’s eyes. Yet it wasn’t the bothersome light that woke her up. Instead, it was a slight discomfort she felt. Absentmindedly, she placed a hand on her hip, grunting. Did she dislocate it? She didn’t remember…

She remembered.

Marinette sat up with a gasp, the memory of Cataclysm coming back to her. Hadn’t it been a dream? Her hip seemed to disagree, as she let out a hiss of pain. The teen took the hem of her shirt and slowly lifted it.

Enough to see the damage.

“Tikki,” Marinette breathed. “Something’s wrong.”


	4. Puns and Clumsiness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When the characters talk about temperature, they are talking about Celsius, not Fahrenheit.

“Marinette, go home!” Tikki pleaded for the third time that morning. “You shouldn’t be here. You said it yourself: something is wrong.”

“But I have class,” Marinette insisted as she entered the locker room, just as everyone else had walked out. “So far, it only hurts a bit, and it’s a little black. I think it can wait until after school.”

“A spot of unusual color on your skin, after a magical hit, is never a good sign,” Tikki said. “That is not the color of a bruise or freckles. It looks like someone tattooed a big black splotch under your skin.”

“You worry too much,” Marinette sighed, as she took off her jacket. “Wow, it’s really hot today.”

“It’s twenty-two degrees.”

“Is it?” Marinette took out her phone, only to confirm that it was, indeed, twenty-two degrees. Why did it feel so hot then?

“Go. Home,” Tikki repeated. “From there, you can call Master Fu and take a much needed rest, in the meantime.”

“I can’t have Master Fu come to my house!” Marinette said as she saved several books and her jacket, before closing the locker. “You know all the questions my parents will ask. It’s not safe. They could figure out I’m Ladybug. I’ll just visit him after class.”

Marinette took a step to leave the locker room, but a sharp pain rendered her immobile. Suddenly, she collapsed against the lockers, dropping her bookbag and trying to even her breath. For an agonizing minute, the pain felt like a thousand small knives stabbing her continuedly. Then, the pain subsided, but slower than when it came.

The girl took the opportunity to lift up the hem of her shirt all the way up to her ribs. With Tikki’s gasp, she knew it before looking: the black portion was larger now, hundreds of large black spots spreading across her skin. It was already reaching her back and upper leg.

“Please,” Tikki begged, her tiny paws together. “Please go home. Call Master Fu. He’ll take care of you.”

Marinette chewed on her lip. On the one hand, the fact that it grew larger in the span of two hours since she woke up was an obvious red flag, but on the other, she didn’t want anyone suspecting her actions, especially her parents. If they found out she is Ladybug, she would be putting them in great risk. And if she skipped school, Principal Damocles would call them. He threatened to do so last time she missed class for an akuma.

“I-I… I don’t kno—”

The door swung open and a janitor walked in.

“Hey, you’re supposed to be in class, unless you want me to take you to the principal.”

“S-sorry,” Marinette stuttered, grabbing her bag from the floor.

Knowing she would get in trouble if she didn’t head straight to a classroom, the girl walked directly to Ms. Bustier’s class. Maybe she could fake being sick (not that it would be too hard, considering her current condition). That way, she could go home with a reasonable excuse and not get in trouble for missing class.

As she entered the classroom, Marinette tried to not make eye contact with her teacher nor classmates. Of course, that didn’t help for her conspicuousness, for she tripped on the step before her desk. Several students laughed, while she quickly righted herself and sat on her desk.

“Nice of you to join us, Marinette,” the teacher commented.

“Sorry, Ms. Bustier,” the girl mumbled, wiping some of the sweat off her forehead.

As the teacher continued with her class, Alya leaned closer.

“Hey, M, are you okay?” she whispered.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Marinette breathed.

“Are you sure? Because you’re sweating like crazy.”

Marinette waved her hand dismissively. She knew she needed to get out soon, but she couldn’t do it too soon. She had to first make sure at least two people suggested her to go home. That way, it wouldn’t seem like she was doing it on purpose.

Although, in all honesty, she actually _did_ feel pretty crappy. Marinette took a quick scan of the room, noticing how refreshed everyone looked. From the looks of it, she seemed to be the only one drenched in sweat. When her vision started swimming, she looked back to the front, hoping to hear, at least, five minutes of the lesson.

“Girl, seriously, you look awful,” Alya whispered again.

“I’m… I-I…” But she couldn’t finish the sentence. Instead, she felt additional saliva form in her mouth. When her stomach did an uncomfortable lurch, she clapped a hand to her mouth. Pushed by adrenaline, Marinette rushed out of her chair, directly to the trash can next to Ms. Bustier’s desk. Where she retched her guts out.

She heard a collective groan of disgust behind her, but a second round of vomit drowned the noise.

“Enough!” she heard Ms. Bustier. “Marinette is obviously sick, and you would do better helping than complaining.”

Marinette took a breath, finally able to draw back from the trash can. It allowed her time to look at the mess she made…which did not look like vomit. It looked more like black ink splashed over the contents of the trash can.

“Mari—”

The girl startled, quickly covering the crime scene from Alya, who had gotten up to assist her.

“Hey, girl, it’s okay,” she said quietly. “It’s just me. Can you walk?”

“I-I…I’m not sure,” the girl on the floor responded honestly, remembering the incident in the locker room.

“Ms. Bustier, I need help taking Marinette home,” Alya spoke to the teacher.

The haze was returning. The pain of a thousand knives was there again, but she tried her best to not show it. The last thing she needed was for anyone to take her to the hospital and be questioned about the black spots on her body. She had to make sure they thought she had the flu, or something similar.

Marinette felt herself leave the ground, carried by two sets of hands. The noises around her were jumbled, only Chloé’s screeches about germs making it through the mess. But she didn’t care about what her classmates thought. She was more concerned about what came out of her. And how to fix it.

Many steps later, her vision started clearing, Alya’s red hair quickly invading it. The ground felt less like fluffy clouds and more like solid concrete. She looked to her other side, seeing a mop of blond hair. Chat? Wait, no, Chat Noir wasn’t in her class.

“We’re almost there,” a boy’s voice said.

Marinette blinked, her vision slightly clearer. She could now make out Adrien’s face, watching her in concern. The girl would have freaked out, if it weren’t because of her current condition. She barely had the strength to make it to her house on her own, as it was.

And just as she thought that, she tripped on the last step to the apartment. Luckily, Alya and Adrien managed to hold her up.

“Mari—”

“Clumsy me,” Marinette forced out a giggle. “You know me. I’m actually feeling a bit better.”

“We’re still not leaving you until we know you’re safe,” Adrien assured.

The girl’s cheeks couldn’t help but warm at his words. And as he promised, both he and Alya made sure Marinette was safely lying back on the couch before letting go and placing her bookbag in the kitchen.

“You want me to bring your _maman_ here?” Alya asked.

“No!” Marinette yelped, sitting up so quickly she got head rush. “No, I’m fine. I just need rest.”

Alya and Adrien looked at each other, unsure. Nevertheless, they shared hesitant shrugs and bid her farewell. As they were exiting the apartment, Adrien stopped under the doorframe.

“Marinette,” he called, turning back to her. “Let us know if anything else comes up, please. We care about you, you know?”

The girl couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“Will do,” she responded, but almost immediately felt a sense of déjà vu. Like last time she said that, everything went completely wrong.

Before she could say anything else, though, Adrien gave her one last wave and closed the door. Marinette let out a breath of relief and sat back, accidentally turning the television on. With the new noise, she groaned and plucked the remote from underneath her. She was about to turn it off, but the news distracted her.

She could hear Tikki had started talking to her, but her eyes were trained on the images of a tour bus with no brakes running amok in the streets of Paris. Absentmindedly, she stood up.

“What are you doing?” the kwami asked.

“They need help,” Marinette breathed. “I think I can make one rescue before straightening this thing out.”

“Marinette, no,” Tikki pleaded once again. “You have to call Master Fu.”

“I can’t stand by while people get hurt!”

“But—”

“Tikki, transform me!”

* * *

 _Okay, maybe this_ wasn’t _such a good idea_ , Ladybug couldn’t help but think, as sweat continued to drip from her chin as she ran on rooftops. She only hoped to do this as quickly as possible, to get back home and call Master Fu. And she was so lost in thought, she didn’t notice the cat boy in her path, crashing against his back with a loud ‘oof’.

“Nice bumping into you too,” Chat Noir quipped as Ladybug rubbed her nose.

“Isn’t it a school day?” she asked.

“I could lecture you about that too,” the boy retorted with a smirk.

“Please, no puns today,” Ladybug said, stepping aside to continue their path. But on her way, she tripped over…nothing.

“You seem clumsier than usual,” Chat Noir commented from behind her. “Something bugging you?”

“What did I say about the puns?”

Chat Noir opened his mouth to say something, but Ladybug jumped from the building before he did. Unfortunately, the stabbing pain returned on full force, and with the jerk her body made, she ended up crashing against a lamppost.


	5. Bell

“Ladybug!” Chat Noir called from the rooftop.

The heroine in question was sitting on the sidewalk next to the lamppost, rubbing her nose. She heard metal hit the concrete and felt a hand land on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” her partner asked. “What was that? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you run into something like that.”

“I’m fine,” Ladybug huffed, but was immediately followed by a cough fit.

She covered her mouth, trying to subside it. Meanwhile, Chat Noir rubbed circles on her back, in an attempt to comfort her.

“Are you sick?” he asked. “If you’re sick, go home. I can take care of this.”

“’Mfine,” Ladybug struggled to say. “I just…choked on my saliva.”

“Are you sure?”

“Stop it, I’m fine,” she insisted, standing up. “I just choked, no need to get…protective.”

As she said the last words, she noticed the hand she used to cover her mouth was now stained with the same black liquid she released back in Ms. Bustier’s classroom.

“What is it?” Chat Noir said next to her.

Before he could get a clear view of the substance, Ladybug closed her fist and pulled it close to her chest. She looked up to his face of concerned confusion. The expression alone broke a piece of her heart. She knew that if he were to find out the real effects of Cataclysm on her, he would never forgive himself. No amount of insistence of how she never blamed him would stop him from feeling guilty. And that was a burden she was not willing to give him.

“Nothing,” she resorted to say. “We have to get going, if we want to stop that bus.”

Without waiting for a response, and ignoring his calls, she swung away in the direction of the commotion. The pain lessened, almost as quickly as it came. Was there a pattern to those stupid pains? So far, they seemed to come and go as they pleased. But as she reached the swerving tour bus, Ladybug placed those thoughts at the back of her head, trying to focus on the matter at hand.

It wasn’t the first time they stopped a bus without brakes, so this should be a piece of cake.

She swung ahead of the bus, where she realized that if they didn’t stop the bus soon, it could end up causing a disaster outside Notre Dame Cathedral.

“Chat,” she turned to her partner, just as he landed next to her. “Remember last time we stopped a bus?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Follow me.”

In sync, the two heroes jumped on the hood of the vehicle. Like last time, Ladybug took Chat Noir’s baton and jumped from the front to underneath the bus. She then proceeded to wrap the string of her yo-yo around several tubes of the machine and around the baton. Once the vehicle passed, she threw the baton back to Chat Noir, who extended it and hooked it against two opposing buildings.

On the street, Ladybug pulled on her yo-yo, but she didn’t feel the same strength she had last time. She stumbled at least twice and, for a moment, she thought she would fail. But the bus started slowing. Yet, just as Ladybug started releasing some of the tension, there was a noise of snapping metal, and the bus jolted forward.

The heroine was pulled forward and landed face-first on the ground. She quickly lifted her gaze to the bus. Luckily, it seemed her mishap didn’t undo their efforts, and the giant metal beast stopped just before climbing the sidewalk.

“Thank goodness,” she sighed, laying her head back on the ground.

“Ladybug?” She grunted in response to her partner’s call. “Are you okay?”

Ladybug let out a prolonged sigh. She really didn’t feel like getting up, but unless she wanted to give explanations, she had to. Slowly, she rose from the ground, slightly dusting off her suit.

“We did it,” Ladybug breathed heavily, dragging back her yo-yo.

“ _Bien Joué_!”

“What? Oh.” With lazy movements, she returned the fist-bump to her partner.

“Yeah, you’re not okay,” Chat Noir declared.

He said it with such determination, it made Ladybug turn her head so fast, she had whiplash. But she clearly saw the frown on his face.

“We have to help the civilians out,” she muttered, making her way to the victims.

“Why are you not talking to me?” Chat Noir insisted, quickly matching her pace. “Ladybug, what is going on?”

“Nothing is going on.” The last word almost got drowned, for the bells of Notre Dame had started chiming, signaling it was ten in the morning.

“You’ve been leaving a trail of sweat since we met up back there,” Chat Noir yelled over the commotion of the passengers and the bells. “Something is going on, but for some reason you don’t want to tell me.”

“I said I was fine,” Ladybug yelled back, starting to help passengers out of the bus.

“Great!” Chat Noir screamed. “So you wouldn’t mind if I wipe those two drops that have been driving me insane since you got off the street?”

By instinct, Ladybug rubbed the back of her hand under her chin. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized that her bangs were currently sticking to her forehead. A salty taste also invaded her lips, from the drops under her nose.

In a desperate attempt to hide it (although she knew it was too late), she wiped as much as she could from around her mouth and forehead, leaving her bangs in disarray. She looked back at Chat Noir, who was now scowling at her, for her flimsy lie.

The bells stopped chiming, and on cue, the stabbing pain was back at full force. This time, however, she was unable to hide her discomfort. Her hands flew directly to her hip, while she bit her lip to try to repress a scream. Instead came out a muffled loud grunt.

“Ladybug! What’s wrong? What is it?!” Chat Noir fussed, grabbing her by the shoulders.

Through a swimming vision, she saw her partner shift from looking at her and the people next to them.

“She’s just a little under the weather,” he said to someone behind her. “She’s fine, I just need to take her somewhere else.”

Ladybug suddenly felt herself being pulled away from the crowd. Her vision was blurry now, the sweat intensified. How did she still have water left in her body?! The ground was feeling soft and airless. Was she even walking? Well, her legs were moving, so she _must_ be stepping on something.

“—feeling?”

“Huh?”

“What are you feeling?” Chat Noir repeated, placing a hand on her forehead. “Nausea, headache, runny nose? You feel like you have a fever.”

“Yeah, sure,” Ladybug breathed, her eyes trained on a golden shine. Was that his bell?

“Maybe I should take you to the hospital—”

“NO!” She grabbed the shiny thing, which was, in fact, his bell. “I can’t go to a hospital. I-I…I-It’s…”

But that familiar twist of her stomach forced her to move Chat Noir aside to empty…whatever contents were in her stomach. Because it sure as hell wasn’t food.

“That doesn’t look like a well-balanced breakfast,” Chat Noir said in a high-pitched voice. “Hell, that doesn’t look like food at all!”

“Chat,” Ladybug whispered, grabbing a hold on his bell again. “I-I’m… I’m sor—”

Her vision went black.


	6. Secrets

To say Chat Noir was panicking was an understatement. The boy was on the edge of losing his mind, as he ran from rooftop to rooftop carrying an unconscious Ladybug. Yet he had no idea what to do, after that incident. Now he knew why a hospital was not an option. In the end, he landed on a terrace with a lounge chair. Softly, he lay her down.

He looked her over, but so far, the only sign he could find that she was sick was the fact that she was still sweating, and a thin trail of black liquid was dripping from her mouth. Chat Noir shuddered. This was the second time that day he had had to carry a sick friend to safety. Of course, Marinette hadn’t vomited what looked like… Cataclysm.

It couldn’t be…Could it? Ladybug had said she was fine. Her suit had been repaired. He assumed all traces of the power had disappeared. That’s what Miraculous Cure was supposed to do: fix things.

Ladybug stirred, and Chat Noir perked up. Slowly, she blinked against the midday sunlight and grunted.

“How are you feeling?” he whispered. But only got a groan for a response.

He dragged a hand over his hair. Should he try to make her speak? Should he try to make her feel better? Did he even _have_ time to wait for that?

“Ladybug,” he called, slightly more desperate this time. “Please talk to me. Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”

Ladybug’s eyes opened properly now, directed at him. She was frowning for a moment, but suddenly, she gasped and bolted up to a sitting position.

“Wha-…What happened?!” she yelped. “The bus! Did we stop it?!”

Chat Noir froze. She was suddenly so alert. Like she hadn’t just freaking fainted. But there was no way she was okay.

“Chat Noir?” she called, taking him out of his thoughts. “Where are we?”

“You fainted,” he blurted out. Ladybug frowned. “You threw up…something. And fainted.”

As if on slow motion, her expression morphed from confusion to realization. Her breathing became heavier. And her hand quickly landed on her yo-yo.

“I gotta go.”

“Wait, no!” Chat Noir grabbed her wrist, sitting her back on the chair. “You’re not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.”

“I’m sick,” Ladybug responded almost immediately. “Just the flu.”

“That thing you vomited earlier did not look like the flu.”

“I had a very bad breakfast.”

“Bad breakfast or rotten corpses?”

“It was a really bad breakfast.”

“Ladybug!”

She startled, her lips forming an ‘o’. Chat Noir knew that came out somewhat harsh, but he didn’t care. Not when things were this bad.

“Why aren’t you telling me what’s going on?” he said. “Don’t you think we keep enough secrets from each other, as it is?”

The girl’s gaze lowered. Chat Noir almost scoffed at the move. It was basically a confession she was hiding information from him.

“I thought we were gonna be more open with certain things,” he commented.

“Not with burdens you don’t have to carry,” Ladybug whispered. When Chat Noir frowned, she continued. “I’ll be fine. I just need to get back home, so I can fix this.”

“It’s Cataclysm, isn’t?” Chat Noir said before he could stop himself.

Ladybug’s gaze returned to him, mouth open. But almost immediately, she closed it. She then proceeded to sit straighter.

“Chat Noir,” she said with determination that confirmed the boy’s worst fears. “I want you to listen to me very carefully.”

But Chat Noir was rising to his feet, pulling on his hair and pacing the terrace. His heart was beating at a hundred miles. His entire being felt like it was trying to pull in on itself. _What have I done?_

“This is not your fault,” Ladybug said in a louder tone.

“Not my fault?!” he choked, already feeling hot tears running down his face. “If I hadn’t been so impulsive, if I had cut my loses instead, this wouldn’t be happening!”

“We didn’t know!” the girl insisted. “In battle we react by instinct, and usually Miraculous Cure fixes everything. We didn’t think this would happen.”

“How long have you known?”

Ladybug sighed. “Just this morning.”

“ _Just this morning_?!”

“Yes.” Ladybug stomped a foot, despite being sitting. “ _Just this morning_. Last night I thought I was fine. But when I woke up this morning, I felt a sharp pain on my hip, so I lifted my shirt and—”

She stopped abruptly, pressing her lips together.

“You lifted your shirt, and what?” Chat Noir pushed, eyes squinting.

“N-Nothing,” she stuttered. “It’s nothing.”

“What did I just say about secrets?”

“You don’t wanna know, Chat!” Ladybug retorted.

Chat Noir was taken aback. How bad could it be that she didn’t want to tell him? Wait… No…

“I-It’s not…rotting, right?” he asked.

“What? No!” Ladybug responded with incredulous eyes, a hand going to her hip. “It’s not like that. It…It looks more like a tattoo.”

“So there’s physical damage,” Chat Noir breathed, a fresh batch of tears sliding down his cheeks.

“I’m sure is nothing Master Fu can’t fix.”

“Master Fu!” the boy suddenly exclaimed. “Of course! He knows everything!”

“Well, not everything,” Ladybug murmured. Chat Noir ignored it.

“We can go to his parlor and ask him to get all this straighten out.” He then proceeded to grab her wrist. “I know he’ll have the answers we need.”

“Wait, now?!”

“The sooner, the better,” Chat Noir stated. “We don’t know if this can get worse or not.”

“Uuuh…”

Chat Noir stopped to stare at her. “You already know it gets worse, don’t you?”

Ladybug’s gaze went to the ground.

“Ladybug—”

“I didn’t want you to feel like you did something terrible,” she explained. “I know you, and I know how you would immediately blame yourself for what happened. I just…didn’t want you to have to carry guilt you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t even be skipping school for me.”

“School is the least of my worries,” Chat Noir said. “I’m so advanced in my classes, it doesn’t make a difference if I miss a day or two. And besides,” he gave Ladybug a soft smile, “We’re partners. We have to have each other’s back.”

Ladybug gave him a fond smile. Meanwhile, Chat Noir offered her a hand this time, instead of pulling on her wrist.

“Shall we, please?”

“Okay,” Ladybug said, taking a deep breath. “But I’ll need some help getting there.”

“I’ll be more than happy to be your valiant stead,” Chat Noir beamed.


	7. Partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s a day late. Been visiting family and stressing over Beryl, so I was a bit stuck. But I’ll make up for lost time this week.

“So, any ideas on why you’re still affected by Cataclysm, even after you fixed everything?” Chat Noir asked, as he held Ladybug from around her waist and helped her walk across a rooftop.

“My kwami Tikki had a theory,” the spotted heroine responded. “She thinks that the suit was damaged when it was hit. Since it was a direct hit of magic, unlike akumas, it was able to get through my—the miraculous—magic.”

“Whatta you mean, _unlike akumas_?” he asked, readying his baton to vault them to the next building.

“Akumas are like…second hand magic,” Ladybug explained. “The magic they possess is given to them by Hawkmoth, but the real magic comes from him.” Chat Noir jumped and landed them on the next rooftop. “Meaning that it’s more probable for us to be affected or damaged by an attempt of turning us into an akuma, than by whatever any akuma throws at us.”

“So, like, akumas powers are borrowed magic, not the source of magic,” Chat Noir recapped. “That’s why they can throw us around and we’re basically invulnerable.”

“Pretty much,” Ladybug shrugged. “They can change our appearances and teleport us and such, but they can’t touch what’s beneath the magical barrier of the suit. That’s also why we’re not impervious to getting turned into akumas ourselves, even while in the suits.”

“Wait, we can turn, too?” the boy questioned, turning his gaze to her. “Honestly, I always thought we were immune to that, being miraculous holders and all.”

Ladybug shook her head. “I almost got turned once.”

“Really?” Chat Noir’s eyes widened. “I find it hard to believe.”

“I’m not as perfect as I pretend to be,” the girl said, following it with a soft grunt of pain. “Citizens need a good example.”

“I’m not saying you’re perfect.” They vaulted over another gap. “But you’re usually the Lady with the plan. I always thought that if one of us got akumatized, it would be me.”

“ _You_?” Ladybug snorted. “With your puns and sunshine smile?”

“And here I thought you didn’t notice my shinning good looks,” he quipped, as if on command. When she gave him a deadpan look, her remembered the circumstances. “Sorry, just tryna distract you from the…thing. But in seriousness, I may be funny and charming, but home is not the happiest place on Earth.”

“I’m sorry, Chat,” his partner whispered.

“Hey, don’t sweat it,” he shrugged. “You’re not the one who’s constantly disappointed by my existence.”

“I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t exist anymore,” Ladybug mumbled.

Chat Noir stopped on his tracks. A breeze blew by, and the boy felt a chill go up his spine.

“Ladybug—”

“I can’t imagine having anyone else for a partner,” she continued quietly. “I can’t even imagine anyone being disappointed in you. You’re far more wonderful than people give you credit for.”

The boy’s fake cat ears drooped. His heart dropped to his stomach. And that chill he had felt before had turned into an ice cube.

“You’re saying that to the guy who used the power of destruction on you,” he muttered.

“Not on purpose,” Ladybug reminded him. “I can’t expect you to be perfect. That would just dehumanize you. It’s not—”

Another scream of pain interrupted the conversation. As Ladybug’s knees buckled, Chat Noir lowered her slowly on the zinc of the rooftop. She crossed her arms over her stomach and hunched forward, while her breath came out more as painful pants.

“Breathe,” Chat said tentatively. How helpful could that really be? “We’re almost there, M’Lady.”

He rubbed circles on her back, hoping to soothe the pain. But he knew there was only so much that could help. For a moment, he almost had a mini panic attack, as Ladybug started whispering to herself: “Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up.”

“If you need to throw up again, do it,” the boy advised. “That stuff you’re holding in there is not ice cream.”

Ladybug took several more breaths, each one becoming more and more even. When she was no longer panting, she took a hold of Chat Noir’s forearm,

“You’re a great partner, Chat Noir,” she said, squeezing his arm. “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You didn’t betray me. You didn’t try to kill me. Accidents happen. And that’s what this was. An accident.” She took a deep breath. “Now just…keep doing your thing. Help me resolve this.”

Chat Noir nodded, already grabbing her waist again. “Always.”

They let themselves down to a lower building and continued making their way to the parlor. It was a path that usually took them minutes, but with Ladybug unable to properly walk and stopping every once in a while when the pain became intense, made the track twice as long. But it gave Chat Noir time to ask one more question.

“You’ve been holding your stomach the last few times it hurts,” he commented.

“Yeah?”

“I thought the wound was on your hip,” he said quietly.

There was a pause.

“It’s spreading,” Ladybug responded. “It’s been doing that since I woke up this morning.”

“How fast?”

“Well,” she started, “when I woke up, it was a patch that covered most of my hip. Then, when I got to school two hours later, it had extended to my lower back. But I haven’t checked myself since.”

“That’s really fast,” Chat Noir said with a shuddered breath. “It’s a good thing we’re here then.”

Thus, indeed, they had arrived at the parlor where Master Fu resided.


	8. Hand Kiss

The two young heroes stared at the building. Chat Noir took a step ahead, but was stopped almost immediately by Ladybug. He gives her a questioning look, met by hesitance from her part.

“Is it safe to go in like this?” she asked.

“We don’t have much of a choice,” the boy shrugged. “Unless you wanna find out each other’s identity, this is the only way.”

In an attempt to soothe her fears, Chat Noir offered his hand. With a quiet breath, Ladybug took it, and he quickly gave it a soft kiss.

“Everything’s gonna be fine,” he whispered into her knuckles.

* * *

Everything was not fine. The moment they entered, Master Fu greeted them with tea and concern. The two heroes told them the situation, but all the man could say were three words:

“I don’t know.”

The teens stared in disbelief, jaws hanging. This couldn’t be real. Master Fu usually had most of the answers. He had been studying the book for months already.

“Whatta you mean _you don’t know_?!” Chat Noir practically yelled.

The aging man took a sip from his tea. “So far, I have only been able to decipher the different powers you can uncover,” he explained. “I have not read about what to do when one of your powers goes wrong.”

Ladybug’s shoulders slackened. “You’re saying there’s nothing we can do?”

“Not quite,” Master Fu responded. In unison, Ladybug and Chat Noir straightened, hoping. “I don’t know how to fix it, yet. I will do my best to find a way. In the meantime, I would need to see the damage.”

Chat Noir’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t mean what he thought he meant, right? It was against the rules, as far as he knew.

“How?” Ladybug voiced his concerns. “We’re not supposed to know each other’s identities. And…the damage is underneath the suit.”

Master Fu frowned and stroke his beard in thought.

“I have a mask you could use,” he said.

There it was again. That mischievous summersault in his chest, that couldn’t help but be excited at the idea of a detransformed Ladybug. Of being so close to knowing who she really was.

“That could work,” Ladybug agreed with a shrug. “May I use your bathroom, then?”

The man nodded, as he got to his feet and took out a Chinese mask, that left the lower half of her face uncovered, from one of the drawers. Slowly, Ladybug took it and made her way to the restroom. Chat Noir looked after her, internally sighing in disappointment.

“You will know, someday.” The boy turned his head to Master Fu. The man smiled. “Maybe sooner than you two may think.”

Chat Noir gulped. He opened his mouth to ask how soon, but was cut off by the sound of the door opening again. From it, came out Ladybug wearing a red silk robe with a golden flower design on the edges, and the mask Master Fu lent her. Giving her a look of mystery, that both disappointed and mesmerized Chat Noir.

“Thought it would be a good idea to change clothes too,” she murmured, explaining the outfit change. While Master Fu complimented her for her intuition, Chat Noir’s mind was going in circles to places it shouldn’t go.

Slowly, the now civilian sat back on the floor. She then took a deep breath and started lowering the fabric from her left shoulder.

“Whoa, wait,” Chat Noir blurted out, his mind finally coming to a screeching halt. “Are you wearing anything under there?”

“My underwear,” Ladybug deadpanned. Reading his concerns, she added: “Think of it as going to the doctor. Master Fu is my doctor and you’re who’s accompanying me. And this is a test that needs to be done to figure out the—”

Her analogy was cut off, as a new batch of coughs interrupted it. Even though Ladybug covered her mouth, strings of the black liquid slipped between her fingers. That cursed thing that wouldn’t stop coming out of her, like blood.

The men moved quickly. On one hand, Master Fu grabbed a vial from one of the drawers to collect what was coming out of Ladybug. On the other, Chat Noir ran to the bathroom to drench a towel with hot water and take it to his partner. In a moment, there was a sample of whatever was hurting her and a cloth wrapped around her hands, taking on a grey color.

Chat Noir repeated over and over again how she was fine, how everything was going to be okay. He helped her clean as much as he could from her hands, until they looked pink.

“See, it’s okay,” he whispered, kissing her palms repeatedly. “You’re fine.” Kiss. “It’s gonna be fine.” Kiss. “It’s just temporary.”

Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. If he was being honest, the action was not so much for her, but more to reassure himself. That he hadn’t killed her.

“Chat Noir,” Ladybug called, voice hoarse. Softly, she turned her hands and grabbed his instead. “It’s gonna be okay. I know it.”

With those words, she gave him a kiss on the knuckles of each of his hands, and showed him a lopsided grin. “I’ll be fine,” she said.

“At least now we know it extends to your insides,” Master Fu commented, now sitting on Ladybug’s left. “May we see it now?”

Ladybug visibly gulped. She placed a hand on the fabric on her shoulder and pulled it slightly, revealing the strap of a pink bra. She then stopped, taking a large breath.

“Just…” she started, distracting Chat Noir of several inappropriate thoughts that were fleeting through his mind at the moment. “Just know it doesn’t feel as bad as it looks.”

Chat Noir knew that was directed to him. Why was she still trying to protect him? It was unnecessary. And when Ladybug uncovered her left side, the gasp that escaped him signaled it _was_ as bad as he thought.


	9. Claws and Bugs

Whatever dirty thoughts he had had moments ago were completely chased away once the robe was down.

The place where Cataclysm had touched her was completely black. From that point, many black dots peppered her entire lower back, her stomach and left thigh. What was worse, it seemed to still be spreading, with dots more far apart up on her chest and shoulder, and down on her knee and calf. And several more were starting to reach her other leg.

His hand started reaching out, but he caught himself before touching her. As if his claws were poison.

 _I did this_ , he thought, his heart hammering against his ribcage. _I did this to her. I destroyed her_.

“Stop,” Ladybug said suddenly, grabbing his face and wiping tears he hadn’t noticed had rolled down. “Chat Noir, this isn’t your fault.”

“But, Ladybug,” he breathed. “Your body… It’s… I…”

“Chat—”

“You said it looked like a tattoo!” he accused. “That looks more like the freaking plague. But worse!”

“ _Chaton_ —”

“And it’s spreading way faster than we thought!” He continued. “ You said it was on your lower back this morning. It’s almost on your neck!”

With those last words, Ladybug froze. She had been so preoccupied by Chat Noir’s feelings, she hadn’t looked at herself. Hastily, she looked down at body, how the black dots were spreading. Like seeing herself for the first time. As if on instinct, she held her arms, turning her attention to Master Fu.

“You’ll find a way to fix this, right? It’s fixable.”

“It’s fixable,” the man said. The two teens let out a breath of relief in unison. “But,” Master Fu continued, stroking his beard and eyes shifting away in thought. “It will take some time to figure out how.”

“We don’t have time,” Chat Noir almost cut in.

“It’s barely midday, and almost half my body is covered by this,” Ladybug added. “I don’t think my body can wait.”

“In normal circumstances, you would have already been taken over, Ladybug,” Master Fu said. When the two teens looked at him in confusion, he explained himself. “What you have been vomiting is what’s under your skin there. The remnants of Cataclysm. Your own body and mind have been rejecting an attempt at destruction of your being.”

“Of my being?”

“It’s not killing you, from what I can see,” the aging man said. “Cataclysm is the power of destruction, but life is not the only thing that can be destroyed. I suspect the Miraculous Cure halted the destruction of your body, but there’s only so much it can do for something that cannot be seen, like a soul.”

“A soul?” Chat Noir frowned.

“When were the symptoms worse?” Master Fu asked.

The heroes glanced at each other, before responding in unison: “After the bus rescue.”

“Wait,” Ladybug said suddenly, “are you saying that—”

“When you do good or selfless deeds, your body and mind reject the negative effects of Cataclysm,” the man explained, standing and heading to his tablet on the cabinet. “It tries to expel the power, and save your soul from corruption. Like an immune system fighting an infection.”

“So, when I throw up…That’s good?” Ladybug asked.

“As strange as it sounds, it is,” Master Fu confirmed. “Now, I may not have an antidote to cure you, yet, but…” he opened one of the drawers and took out a vial with blue liquid. “I have a treatment against magic that should, at the least, slow down the process. And of course,” he smiled at the uncostumed hero, “your positivity and compassion for others will be of great help in making the medicine work for as long as possible.”

“How long do we have?” she asked.

“That, I am afraid I don’t know,” the man answered, a slight frown forming. “It depends on you, Ladybug.”

Chat Noir and Ladybug exchange looks, knowing full well she couldn’t always be the positive beacon some thought she was all the time. Even so, they looked back at the Guardian and nodded determinedly. To spare Ladybug the trouble of moving, Chat Noir stood up to take the medicine.

“In the meantime,” Master Fu continued, now heading to the phonograph. “You will need an ally than can help you carry out your duties while we find a way to heal you.”

The man proceeded to press the eyes of the dragon on the phonograph to open a compartment with several buttons. Of those, he pressed three, and the top of the wooden instrument popped open. Chat Noir looked at it in awe as he sat back down. And when the man took out a large box from it, the boy knew what was in there.

“I assume you know where to find Rena Rouge?” He asked, looking back at the spotted heroine.

The two teens’ mouths opened in unison. “Yes,” Ladybug said.

Master Fu took out the fox miraculous and placed it in a small box. He then proceeded to extend his arm towards Laybug.

“She can keep it, for as long as it takes to undo this mishap.”

Ladybug reached out to take it, but stopped just centimeters away.

“Can I tell Chat who she is?” she asked.

“Well,” Master Fu gave a resigned look. “I think he needs to know, just in case.”

 _Just in case Ladybug doesn’t survive this_ , Chat Noir couldn’t help but think. As he was lost in his thoughts, his partner took the box and held it close to her bare chest. With that, Master Fu recommended she drink the medicine and head out to find Rena Rouge.

Without being asked, Chat Noir helped Ladybug cover up and led her to the bathroom.

“You didn’t have to help me, you know?” she jokingly protested.

“Ladybugs aren’t always lucky. Besides,” he brought up the medicine vial to their eye level, “I think the sooner you drink this, the better.”

“Right,” Ladybug said, immediately taking it and downing it like a shot.

“Jeez, easy,” Chat Noir cringed. But the girl didn’t seem to mind, except for a subtle twitch of her eye. The boy waited, in case she ended up throwing up again. Yet instead, she gained a little color back on her face, and assured she felt slightly better.

“I just need to get dressed, so we can go,” she stated.

“Okay.”

…

“Uuuh…”

“Oh!” Chat Noir scratched the back of his head for his obliviousness. “Sorry, I’ll leave you to it.”

“Wait, hang on.” Ladybug grabbed the boy’s wrist as he started turning. “Thank you. For bringing me and being here for me.”

“Of course, Buginette,” he said, with a soft smile. “Anything for someone I love.”

Ladybug slightly averted her gaze, cheeks turning… _Wait, is she blushing?_ Chat Noir gulped, wondering if he could push his luck. Before his mind could answer, though, his body was already responding, sliding his hand into hers and squeezing. As his claws caressed her bare skin, her freckled skin became a darker shade of scarlet, almost giving the impression of a ladybug.

“Your claws feel different without the suit,” she commented.

“So does your hand,” he said. Ladybug hummed. But as much as he wanted to make this moment last… “Anyway, Bug, we need to get going, to find Rena Rouge. Whom, by the way, may I ask who she is?”

Ladybug tensed, and her eyes widened.

“Oh, ha, ha!” she laughed with a cringe on her face. “Well, you see, funny story about that one… That I’ll tell once I’m dressed and transformed. Now shoo, _minou_.”

“Seriously?!” Chat Noir complained, as Ladybug pushed him out of the bathroom and slammed the door shut.


	10. Friends

Ladybug wasn’t lying when she said she felt better. It was the best she had felt all day. Although there was ghost pain lingering, she was comfortable enough to swing from building to building at her usual speed. And amuse herself as Chat Noir followed her, insisting she tell her the identity of Rena Rouge.

“C’mon, Master Fu said I get to know who she is,” he whined.

“We’re getting there,” Ladybug laughed. “You’ll know as soon as we see her.”

She heard him grumble behind her, something about it being unfair. But she merely chuckled at his antics. They both knew full well he would find out today anyway. At last, they reached the balcony above _Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie_ , and Ladybug headed to the side overseeing the school.

“She’s in there,” she pointed.

There was a pause, silence only broken by Chat Noir’s steps going in circles behind her.

“Is Rena Rouge Marinette?” he asked.

“What?!” Ladybug sputtered, turning around to face him. “Why would you think that?”

“Well, uh…” he scratched the back of his head. “I can’t think of anyone who goes to that school worthier for a miraculous than her. She’s kind of amazing, you know?”

Ladybug gaped, unexpectedly touched by his assumption. Softly, her lips turned into a grin. _You oblivious dork_ , she sighed internally.

“Um, no,” she said, suppressing a giggle. “Marinette is not Rena Rouge. But you’re close.”

“Really?” Chat Noir asked, genuinely surprised.

Ladybug squinted at him. “Are you surprised because you’re close or because Marinette is _not_ Rena Rouge?”

“Honestly, both,” he admitted.

“Huh,” the spotted heroine uttered. “I didn’t know you thought so highly of her.”

“I like to think she is one of my best friends,” he boasted, a hand on his chest. “We are so close, she found out about my confession before you did.”

Suddenly, he froze, while Ladybug covered her hand, failing to smother her laughter.

“I… hadn’t told you that. And I wasn’t supposed to bring that up. I’m sorry I—”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Ladybug chuckled. “We’re still friends. And I’m glad you have someone to talk to.”

“Heh,” Chat Noir grinned awkwardly. He then cleared his throat. “Anyway, now where’s our foxy friend hiding today?”

Ladybug opened her yo-yo and looked at the time. “She must be in the afternoon classes.”

“So,” the boy rubbed his chin, “how are we gonna give her the miraculous if she’s in class?”

“Easy,” Ladybug said, pressing several buttons on her yo-yo phone. “ _I_ have her phone number.”

* * *

Alya had already turned two pages into confetti, thinking about what she could have done better that morning. She still couldn’t shake the feeling Marinette was sicker than she let on. For a second, she could have even sworn whatever came out of her best friend looked black. But when Alya got back to the classroom, the trashcan was empty.

If only she had gotten back a few minutes earlier. But Adrien had not made that an easy feat. After almost getting ran over by a bus out of control, the boy insisted he forgot something at Marinette’s. Alya then spent five minutes trying to convince him to get it at lunch time. And just when she thought he had resigned himself to follow her to school, she passed the threshold, turned around, and realized he was no longer with her.

The nerve of the boy, forcing her to cover for him without even telling her why. Alya lied for him, of course. What kind of a friend would she be if not? Still didn’t change the fact that he was getting his butt kicked, Marinette’s crush or not.

Alya was starting to rip a third page in pieces, when her phone vibrated on her lap. As discreetly as she could, the girl unlocked the screen and opened a message from a blocked number. Her heart thumped, knowing who was usually on the other side of those.

_Meet us on the south side of Collège Françoise Dupont as soon as you can._

_Ladybug_

A ladybug emoji was added after the name. Could this day get any more interesting? And what did she mean by _us_? Without hesitating, Alya punched the air above her. Almost out of her seat. When Mrs. Mendeleiev called on her, the girl was almost unintelligible.

“MayIgotothebathroom?!”

The teacher raised an eyebrow. “You came back from lunch break less than an hour ago. Why didn’t you go then?”

 _I always knew you would be my downfall, Mrs. Medeleiev_ , Alya grumbled internally.

“I have a… girl emergency,” she made up, grabbing her bag.

The teacher bore her eyes into the girl. At last, she waved her hand in dismissal, allowing Alya to leave. The redhead scrambled to her feet and practically ran to the door. Once outside the classroom, she turned the opposite way from the restrooms, straight to the school exit.

Alya walked carefully, doing her best to not get caught by any adult in the building. Luckily, she managed to get outside undetected. She tapped her way around the building, glancing at the bakery as she did. She stopped ten steps after passing it, almost reaching the end of the school wall.

_Thud_

The redhead turned on her heels to see Ladybug and Chat Noir land on the pavement.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir!” she gushed. “What can I help you with?”

But she didn’t receive an immediate response. Instead, Ladybug seemed smug for some reason, while Chat Noir was gaping at the blogger.

“Alya?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, thank you guys so much for the wonderful comments. Normally I respond to every comment, but due to the nature of this fic, I simply don't have the time. But I do read them, and they're wonderful and make me feel fuzzy inside. (And a little sorry for breaking your hearts)


	11. Habits

“Out of all the people in the world, you chose the one who owns a blog to uncover our identities.”

Chat Noir had already been rambling for five minutes since they moved into their current alley. Both Ladybug and Alya, the latter now holding the little miraculous box, simply stared at him as he paced from side to side.

“I mean, you’re great Alya, don’t get me wrong,” he continued. “But I know how you’ve been about us, and you can’t fault me for being a _little_ concerned, can you? Although, you _are_ Marinette’s best friend, and Nino’s… something. And I know for a fact they are very good judges of character. Especially Marinette. But I’m not sure if this is such a good idea. I mean, I know you’ve helped several times now, not just as Rena Rouge, but as a civilian, but you still update the Ladyblog.

Although, now that I think about it, I haven’t seen any new clues of Ladybug’s possible secret identity. Wait, did you do that on purpose?” he rubbed his chin. “That would explain why I haven’t been able to update my notes for a while—”

“Your notes?” Ladybug deadpanned.

“Yeah, my Ladybug notes,” he continued obliviously. “With all the information I know so far of…”

He suddenly shut his mouth close, as if realizing who he had just told that to. Meanwhile, Ladybug crossed her arms and scowled at him for the confession.

“Is there something you wanna say, _minou_?” she dared.

Chat Noir gave them an awkward smile and scratched the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry, Alya,” he said at last. “I’m just really surprised. But I know Ladybug chose you for a reason, and I know you’re a great friend to Marinette and Nino, sooo… I’m sorry.”

“Hey, don’ sweat it, Whiskers,” Alya waved a hand in dismissal. “I know I used to be a bit pushy back in the day—”

“It hasn’t been that long,” Ladybug murmured.

“—but now I’m in the same boat as you guys.”

Alya puffed out her chest proudly, fists on her hips. That last statement reminded Ladybug about how the redhead was not fully aware of their current situation. She took a step closer to her.

“You’ve proven yourself a great ally,” she said carefully. “Which is why we need your help again.”

The redhead frowned. “You know, normally I’m ecstatic when you ask me to wear the miraculous again, but I can’t help but sense there’s something off.”

 _Alya is way too intuitive for her own good_ , Ladybug sighed. Being honest with herself, she still wasn’t sure on whether they should tell their foxy companion about what really happened. The last thing she wanted was to create a rift in the team and worry her best friend.

“See,” Chat Noir started, “the thing is that—”

“I’m sick,” Ladybug intervened. “I’m not feeling at a hundred percent, so we need you to pick up the slack, while I get better.”

“Oh,” Alya uttered, looking at her hero up and down. “You do look a little pale. Whatta you have?”

“Uhh.” She hadn’t thought this far. “I-it’s just a very intense flu. Nothing to w-worry about. I-I swear—”

“Stop,” the redhead suddenly said, raising a hand. “I know it’s important to keep secrets and stuff, but you don’t have to downplay whatever it is you’re going through.”

“What?!” Ladybug feigned surprise. “I-I don’t know what you mean.”

“I can tell by Chat Noir’s kicked-cat expression it’s not just the flu.”

The spotted heroine turned to her partner, who’s cat ears were drooping and his eyes were looking anywhere but at her.

“I know keeping secrets is important for you guys,” Alya continued. “Heck, it’s pretty much a habit at this point. But if this is serious enough to need my help, don’t treat me like I’m an idiot who can’t handle it.”

“It’s… not that I think that…” Ladybug feebly argued.

“Then what gives?”

 _That you already have to worry about me as a civilian, and you shouldn’t have to worry about me as a superhero too, and l can’t put you through more_ , Ladybug rambled internally.

“It’s complicated,” she said instead.

“I hurt her,” Chat Noir suddenly joined.

“Chat—”

“No,” he insisted. “You don’t need to protect everyone, Ladybug. Much less when we don’t know what’s gonna happen to you if—You know. If we fail.”

“Okay, now I’m freaking out.” Alya raised her brows. “What’s going on?”

Ladybug and Chat Noir glanced at each other, the one in red hesitant. But with a pleading look from her partner, she relented. Together, they told Alya the whole story, from when they were fighting Le Transporteur, to their visit to the Guardian. Ladybug, on her end, deliberately left out the part between that morning and the bus rescue, hoping to protect her identity. Unfortunately…

“What about school?” Alya asked, somewhat cautiously. “Did you go before rescuing the bus?”

“N-no,” Ladybug responded automatically.

“Wait, I thought you said you did,” Chat Noir frowned.

 _Shhh_ , Ladybug mentally scolded him.

“I-I did?”

“Yeah, you said that’s when you noticed it spread to your back, remember?”

Alya’s eyes widened slightly. She couldn’t know, could she? Ladybug was sure the redhead hadn’t seen the contents of the trashcan when she threw up in Ms. Bustier’s class. But then again, her vision had been foggy at the time.

“O-oh, right!” she tried to amend. “I-I mean, I got to school, b-but I didn’t take any classes. When I saw that, I-I just ran off home.”

The redhead squinted, seeming unconvinced about Ladybug’s explanation. Even so, she sighed and crossed her arms.

“This all really sucks, LB,” she said. “And CN, don’t worry about it. If there’s anything I’ve learned from my best friend, is that accidents happen all the time. Speaking of Marinette,” she started rubbing her chin. “You know she has a habit of stuttering when she’s nervous too… Anyway, I hope she’s feeling better.”

“Oh, Marinette’s sick?” Chat Noir chirped in, ears perked up.

“Yeah,” Alya sighed. “My friend and I had to practically carry her home this morning.”

“Wanna see her?” the boy suggested.

“You know, now that I’m out of school, we could—”

“Wait, no,” Ladybug intervened, starting to feel hot under the suit. _Since when is Chat Noir so enthusiast about seeing me?_

The other two looked at her, Alya with a smug smile. “Why not? We got time to kill.”

“Plus, we could take care of her, too,” Chat Noir reasoned. “Maybe bring her some soup.”

“Yeah,” the redhead agreed, finally opening the box containing the fox miraculous. There was a bright yellow light, and from it appeared Trixx.

“Alya!” the kwami shouted, tackling her charge’s cheek. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“It’s great to see you too, little guy,” she said, nuzzling the little god. “But you know what this means. Trixx, transform me!”

In a flash of yellow, Alya was now Rena Rouge. She twirled around and basked in her outfit, touching the ears and tail.

“I missed this already!” she squealed.

“Can we see Marin—” Chat Noir started.

“No!” Ladybug interrupted, placing a hand on her hip. “I-I mean, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Don’t worry, Buginette,” Chat Noir waved a hand. “Marinette is good with superheroes.” He paused. “Hey, those rhyme. Marinette. Buginette. Marinette. Bugi—”

“I think we should let her rest,” Ladybug insisted, now leaning against the alley wall.

“Are you okay?” Rena Rouge suddenly asked.

“What?”

“You’re sweating.”

Ladybug frowned. She swiped her hand over her forehead, and sure enough, it was drenched.

“You’ve gotta be kidding.”


	12. Time

The world wasn’t swimming before Ladybug’s eyes…yet. It still didn’t stop her from sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the ground, with Chat Noir and Rena Rouge fussing over her.

“Are you hurting again?” Chat Noir asked.

“Are you dizzy?” Rena Rouge joined.

“You feel like throwing up?”

“You feel like fainting?”

“Guys…” Ladybug mumbled. “I’m just feeling a little hot, that’s all.”

“I think we need to get you somewhere safe,” Chat Noir reasoned. “Maybe going to Marinette’s is not such a bad—”

“We can’t,” Rena Rouge interrupted before Ladybug could respond. “I, um, I think Ladybug’s right. The last thing Marinette needs is to worry about a sick superhero.”

Ladybug looked up to her best friend, who gave her an apologetic glance. The spotted heroine’s lips curled into a proud smile, as Rena Rouge seemed to remember the importance of secret keeping. Especially considering the predicament they were in at the moment.

Chat Noir’s shoulders slumped. “I guess you’re right. What are we gonna do then? We can’t stay here.”

“How about we take her to my house?” the redhead suggested. “You guys already know who I am, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Plus, it’s empty. My parents are working and my sisters are in school. We shouldn’t have a problem hiding there, _and_ we can research, in case we can find something the Guardian can’t.”

The other two blinked at her. Chat Noir then turned to Ladybug.

“Do you need me to carry you?” he inquired.

“Uh… I think I can make it,” Ladybug assured, rising to her feet.

“Are you sure?” Rena Rouge insisted. “We really don’t mind helping you out.”

“It’s fine,” the spotted heroine said. “Your house is not far from here. I know I can make it.”

While Ladybug made that statement, Chat Noir and Rena Rouge looked at each other uncertainly. Nevertheless, they didn’t fight her on the matter. Sensing their doubts, though, Ladybug proceeded to throw her yo-yo up and start swinging in the direction of Alya’s home. The other two followed.

As they jumped from building to building, the spotted heroine could hear the other two talking between themselves. What were they talking about so much? She couldn’t help get the feeling they were talking about her. Probably questioning her sanity. Or worse, her leadership. How could they question that? How dare they? Who did they think—

“LADYBUG!” they yelled in unison.

It wasn’t until she heard them that she noticed the chimney she had just jumped over had cracked where her hand landed. That very same palm was now sizzling with black smoke, and the glove had gained several holes in it.

The suit was damaged.

The second Ladybug realized that, five consecutive beeps resounded from her earrings, and she could have sworn she heard a flute behind her.

“MIRAGE!”

At the same time that her suit vanished in a swirl of black and pink, a yellow light enveloped her, making her look like she was wearing the suit again. Still in shock, Ladybug turned to her teammates, who were holding tightly to their weapons, Rena Rouge looking like she had just used hers.

“That was close,” the redhead exhaled, falling to her knees.

Chat Noir, on the other hand, ran directly to Ladybug, grabbing her biceps.

“Are you okay? What was that?!”

“I-I…I-I-I—”

“Cataclysm,” a small voice said next to her. They all turned to see a weary Tikki sprawled on zinc next to Ladybug. “She just used Cataclysm, by accident. I did my best to hold it off.”

“Tikki!” Ladybug’s eyes widened as she scooped up her kwami. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Are you hurt? Did I hurt you? I didn’t know, I’m sorry!”

Tikki assured the girl she was okay, only tired. Chat Noir was about to ask once again, when he was interrupted by a beep of another miraculous.

“We gotta go now,” Rena Rouge said, now holding a white sheet in her hands. “We need to get to my house before I detransform.”

“What’s the sheet for?” Chat Noir questioned.

“Ladybug may look transformed, but she’s not,” the redhead explained, wrapping the cloth around the pig-tailed girl. “The illusion is gonna run out soon, so we need to hide her identity somehow. She’s also gonna need help getting there now.”

Rena Rouge finished covering her friend’s head, but Ladybug didn’t pay much attention. She even ignored Rena’s comments about asking for forgiveness to the Parisian from whom she had just stolen. All Ladybug cared about was Tikki, and whatever damage she had just done to her.

Someone took her in their arms and started running full speed. At this point, Tikki had closed her eyes, but was still breathing. _What have I done?_ Marinette lamented, tears starting to roll down her cheeks as she looked down at the little goddess. She pressed her now ungloved hands against her chest, as if trying to protect her friend.

They came into a sudden halt. Softly, she was placed sitting on the edge of a bed, but whoever brought her here continued to hold her, comforting.

“It’s okay,” the voice of Chat Noir spoke next to her ear. “Everything’s gonna be—”

He stopped, tensing next to her. Marinette’s heart thrummed in irrational dread. Or was it actually rational?

“Ladybug,” he breathed, “your hand.”

Marinette frowned. She had been so focused on Tikki, she had not noticed the state in which her hand was: black dots had spread across her arm and were now starting to dust her skin on the back of her hand, while the tips of her fingers became black. Immediately, she moved Tikki to her normal looking hand, as if the blackened one was poison.

“I thought you guys said she drank a medicine,” Rena Rouge said, right before a flash of yellow light turned her back into Alya.

“She did,” Chat Noir responded. “But the Guardian said he didn’t know how long it could last. We didn’t expect to run out of time so fast. We thought we had bought ourselves at least a few days.”

“That lasted like two hours!” Alya flailed her arms.

“GUYS!” Marinette yelled over the other two, rendering them quiet. “Please help me with Tikki,” she sobbed.


	13. Food

Marinette’s words were all Alya needed to sprint out of her room in search for food that could regenerate Tikki’s energy. Meanwhile, Chat Noir took Tikki and placed her on the bed’s pillow. The kwami seemed fine, with no trace of Cataclysm. Unhurt. Sadly, the same couldn’t be said about her charge.

“Your kwami looks okay,” Chat Noir whispered. “Are _you_ okay?”

The girl turned her head slightly in his direction, making sure to keep her head low enough to hide her identity.

“No, I’m not okay,” she confessed, more tears streaming down her cheeks. “I just hurt Tikki for letting my mind wander into dark territory. I’m making the medicine useless. I’m making _myself_ useless. And I’m not giving Master Fu the time he needs to find a cure.”

“It’s not your fault,” Chat Noir insisted. “We didn’t even know you were capable of using Cataclysm on your own. We thought you’d just keep throwing it up.”

“It’s a takeover.”

“What?”

Marinette raised her head slightly. “It feels like Cataclysm is taking over my body and turning me into something else. For a moment there, while we were running, I partly blacked out. I barely even remember touching the chimney. The second I thought of something unlike me, it was like I became someone else.”

“You think you’re gonna turn into someone else?” the boy worried.

“I think…that’s exactly what’s going to happen,” Marinette stated, her breath starting to shorten. “And I’m terrified.”

On cue, she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, easing her growing anxiety. Chat Noir pressed her closer to his chest and placed his chin on the crown of her head.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered. “Master Fu will find a way to fix this. You’ll see. It’ll be fine.”

Before Marinette could say anything else, the door to the room opened, and from it came Alya carrying a large tray with snacks and drinks. Behind her, Trixx was munching on a carrot.

“I don’t know what your kwami eats, so I brought a little bit of everything,” she said, placing the silver platter on her desk. “I got carrots, apples, chocolate, macarons, a baguette, camembert cheese, swiss cheese, edam cheese, mozzarella cheese, oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon cookies. I also brought milk and water.”

“Chocolate chip cookies,” Marinette whispered. “They’re her favorites. And some water for me.”

Alya immediately poured water into a glass cup and placed cookies on a napkin. She then gave the water to Marinette, to dedicate the rest of her time to Tikki. She lightly poked the kwami until she opened her eyes.

“Hey, little one,” Alya called softly. “I got this for you.”

She pushed the napkin closer to Tikki. The small goddess opened her eyes slowly. With lazy movements, she grabbed the first cookie she found and started munching on it, letting out a soft sigh of delight. The three heroes let out a breath of relief.

“I think she’ll be fine,” Chat Noir said. “She’s just tired.”

“Mhmm,” Alya agreed. “Speaking of, what about your kwami, Chat Noir? Do they want something?”

“I’m not sure detransforming is such a good idea right now,” the boy frowned.

“You can take what you need and detransform in the other room,” the redhead suggested. When Chat Noir gave her a concerned look, she responded with: “Don’t worry. I’ll look after them while you’re gone.”

Marinette felt him give her shoulders a quick squeeze, before whispering in her ear to call him if she needed anything. Once he was out the door with a handful of cheese, Alya took several macarons on a napkin and sat where Chat Noir had been seconds ago. After a silent pause, the redhead moved the macarons to Marinette’s field of vision.

“I know you have an upset stomach,” Alya said, “but if there’s anything that can keep bad vibes at bay, is food from the Dupain-Cheng’s.”

The pig-tailed girl raised her head slightly, only to stop when she remembered why it was low. Without uttering a word, she took one of the pink pastries, but simply stared at it.

“You need to at least drink.” Alya’s feet shuffled. “You’re gonna get dehydrated if you don’t.”

“You sound awfully worried,” Marinette noted.

“I am,” Alya admitted. “I can’t stand to see my best friend—I mean, my teammate like this.”

“You know, don’t you?” Marinette said without missing a beat. “You saw what I threw up this morning.”

There was a short pause.

“Yeah. I know.” The redhead sighed. “I’m sorry about earlier. I wasn’t thinking about the repercussions until I saw you getting all sweaty. And after what happened on the rooftops, I’m glad I thought it through.”

“Urgh,” Marinette groaned. “Master Fu is gonna kill me.”

“Hey, chill girl, it’s not your fault,” Alya quickly said, placing a hand on her best friend’s shoulder. “That kind of thinking is only gonna make things worse. So, stop blaming yourself, drink some water and eat that macaron.”

Marinette couldn’t help but chuckled. Perhaps having Alya learn her identity wasn’t the worse thing to ever happen. Feeling slightly lighter, she did as her friend asked. To her surprise, she actually did feel better, the soft nausea she had been feeling settling down.

“You know that if you weren’t sick, I’d be bombarding you with questions, right?” Alya suddenly chirped.

“I can imagine,” Marinette giggled, raising her head to look directly at the redhead.

As soon as their eyes connected, Alya’s lips curled into such a huge grin, Marinette thought her face would split in two.

“I should’ve known this whole time,” the redhead chuckled.


	14. Encouragement

Adrien stared as Plagg devoured the different cheeses Alya provided. How could he be so normal about this whole thing? Ladybug was literally suffering. And no matter how many times she said it was not his fault, he would continue to blame himself until the end of time.

“Stooop,” Plagg drawled. “I know what you’re doing, kid.”

“What?”

“It’s not your fault,” the small god reiterated what everyone else kept saying. “Accidents happen. You can’t blame yourself for an accident.”

“Plagg, you don’t get it,” Adrien insisted. “This _is_ my fault. If I hadn’t been so impulsive and thought things through, none of this would’ve happened.”

“Okay, let’s say it was you fault.” Plagg chomped on a piece of edam cheese. “Wah’ ar’ you ‘onna do abou’ i’? Mope aroun’,” several crumbs flew in the air, “or ‘elp ‘er get th’ough i’.”

Adrien crossed his arms, like a petulant child. “Well, I can’t do much as Adrien, now can I?” When all he received was a deadpan look, the boy sighed. “I know. The last thing we need is for me to get akumatized because of my guilt.”

“Exactly,” the kwami said after swallowing. “Instead, be useful. Help the blogger girl with the research. Who knows, maybe you kids will think of something Master Fu hasn’t thought about yet.”

Adrien tilted his head slightly, thinking about what Plagg had just said. What if… What if Chat Noir could do something? It was his power, after all. Would it be possible for him to manipulate his power, much like Ladybug did with her Lucky Charm? Although, even _he_ could use her Lucky Charm. Yet on the other hand, Rena Rouge could manipulate her illusions.

“I hope you’re done eating,” Adrien suddenly said, standing up.

“What? Why?”

“Plagg, transform me!”

With an indignant whine, the small god was sucked into the silver ring, and Adrien was Chat Noir once again. Without missing a moment, he jumped over furniture, ran towards Alya’s room and pushed the door open.

“Guys, I just got an ide—” But he stopped abruptly. Just as he entered the room, Ladybug squeaked and pulled the sheet over her face. Which looked like it had been fully exposed to Alya.

“H-hey, Chat Noir.” _Alya stuttered? Since when does Alya stutter_. “What’s up? What’s on your mind?”

His gaze shifted back and forth from the covered superheroine to the blogger. He should ignore it. This was not the time to be upset about something as… their…secret…identities.

“Alya knows?!” he blurted out instead.

Ladybug sighed as she curled into herself, while Alya stood up.

“I swear I just found out,” she said, raising her hands in a surrender gesture.

Chat Noir couldn’t help but scoff. “Wow, that’s just great.”

Without thinking, he walked out, back to the living room. Behind him, he heard the rustling of a cloth against the floor and Ladybug calling him.

“Jeez, I know this is my fault, but you didn’t have to hurt me back,” he responded, turning on his heels to face her. She was still covered by the white blanket, holding her kwami in her hands.

“What?”

“That’s why you told her, isn’t? I hurt you, so you turn to someone whom you can trust won’t hurt you.”

“Chill out, dude,” Alya intervened, taking a place between them. “This is not what you’re thinking. How could you even suggest that? You’re Ladybug and Chat Noir! You guys are the ultimate team.”

“Well right now it feels like it’s more Ladybug and Rena Rouge,” Chat Noir complained, with a scowl.

“Chat Noir, I promise it’s not—”

“You’re such a brat,” Alya cut in, frowning.

“Excuse me?” Chat Noir snapped.

“You did the same thing after that time we put animals back in the zoo.” Alya placed her hands on her hips. “You got all snappy at Ladybug because she couldn’t tell you things, not by her choice. You’re acting like a little kid who’s mommy didn’t buy him that one colorful lollipop over the counter.”

“Don’t talk about mothers with me,” Chat Noir practically growled.

“Fine, daddy then,” the girl flailed her arms.

“What’s your point?”

“The point is that you’re taking it out on Ladybug for something that’s not even her fault. She didn’t plan to tell me her identity, I figured it out, and my big mouth was incapable of keeping it to myself. If it were up to her, you’d had known ages ago.”

“So you expect me to believe that you could figure out her identity first, before I could?”

“I’m not trying to insult you!” Alya was yelling at this point. “It just happened, okay?”

“No! Not okay!” he screamed back. “It’s like you’re telling me you know Ladybug better than I do!”

“TIKKI, TRANSFORM ME!”

“No! Mar—”

The rest of what Tikki had to say faded into nothingness, as the kwami was sucked into the Ladybug’s miraculous. As the magic lit up the room, the white blanket fell, and Ladybug was once again masked. As soon as the transformation ended, Ladybug looked between the two arguing heroes.

“That’s enough!” she scolded. “Alya, thank you for your defense, but you’re being a little mean. Chat Noir, I get your issues with the secret keeping business, but that does not excuse your current attitude.”

“But she—”

“I’m not done!” Chat Noir blinked owlishly, never having heard that tone come from Ladybug. “How could you even question my trust in you? You know very well that I trust you with my life, and I would tell you my identity if I could. In fact, if it had been up to me, _you_ would’ve known my identity first. No offense, Alya.”

“None taken,” the redhead assured.

“Chat Noir,” Ladybug took his hand, “you’ve been my companion far longer than anyone else. We know each other on levels that others could never even comprehend. You really think one simple mistake would undo all of that?”

The boy opened his mouth, but closed it almost immediately. If he was being honest with himself, knowing Ladybug, she would never purposely hurt him. Even if someone lied about her, she would still find a way to forgive that person. So, why would it be any different with him?

“I-I…I didn’t mean to be harsh,” he muttered at last. “I was just upset.”

“I get that,” Ladybug assured. “But that doesn’t mean you get to lash out at everyone like that.”

Chat Noir’s shoulders slumped. He had not taken in consideration how he could be hurting others with his words like that. But at least he had enough of a conscience to rationalize on what Ladybug was telling him. Before he could say anything else, though, she spoke again.

“Oh! You said you had an…idea,” she whispered the last word, her gaze going somewhere to his left.

“Right,” he said. “Yeah, I was wondering if there was any way I could control Cataclysm, like how Rena Rouge controls her illusions.”

“To, like, control the Cataclysm inside her?” Alya asked, stepping closer to him.

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t think I can absorb it, but what if I could redirect it?”

“That does sound interesting,” the redhead pondered. “Has the Guardian said anything like that?”

The two of them turned to Ladybug, but she wasn’t listening. One of her hands was over her stomach, while the other over her mouth. Just as he thought about saying something, she gagged.

“Crap!”

“Come on, you can’t throw up here!”

In an instant, Alya flew to the bathroom to get a small trash bin, while Chat Noir met her halfway, directing Ladybug to it. She gagged again, but nothing came out.

“Remember what Master Fu said,” Chat Noir reminded her. “Let it out.”

“No.”

…

“What?” Chat Noir and Alya said in unison.

“I don’t want it out,” Ladybug said in a monotonous voice.

She dropped the trash bin and stepped away from them. The other two started calling her, but she didn’t seem to listen. When Ladybug turned her gaze to them, both Chat Noir and Alya jumped backwards. They did not expect to be staring into eyes that had turned white with a blood red sclera.


	15. Race Through City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Ladynoir July is over, but I want to finish this story. So expect it to continue until it’s done XD

Chat Noir and Alya stared in horror at the eyes of their beloved Ladybug. Gone was the warmth of her kindness, replaced by a cold apathetic stare, made worse by the new colors. The two teens were frozen, unsure of what would happen if they said or did something. Was Ladybug even still…Ladybug?

“Ladybug?” Chat Noir said cautiously.

On cue, the infected heroine turned on her heels and ran to the nearest window. With a jump, covering her face with her arms and raising her knees to her stomach, she broke the glass and landed on the next building. Chat Noir and Alya ran quickly enough to the window to see Ladybug jumping over a chimney, to the next apartment complex.

“Alya—”

“Trixx, transform me!” the redhead called, as Chat Noir started following the girl in spots.

Soon enough, Rena Rouge was speeding beside him. They raced as fast as they could, but they were still too far behind to even be heard by Ladybug. She hopped and swung from one building to the next, showing no signs of stopping. When they reached a park, she jumped down, yet when the other two followed, she had suddenly vanished.

“Where did she go?!” Chat Noir panicked, shifting from side to side. “She was just here, how could she disappear like that?!

“We don’t know if she’s capable of new things,” Rena Rouge pointed out. “If her eyes were capable to change to _that_ , who knows what else has changed about her. What I don’t understand is why. She seemed so positive back at the apartment.”

“I don’t know, maybe there’s something she—” but he stopped abruptly, smacking his forehead. “Of course! Ladybug is the most sympathetic person I know. When someone gets upset, _she_ gets upset. Urgh, I’m such an idiot.” He stomped a foot to the ground. “I just keep making this worse, don’t I?”

“Hey, no, don’t beat yourself up,” the fox-girl said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t help matters either. But right now, what matters is that we find her and try to find a way to fix this.”

As she started to the opposite direction, Chat Noir thought about her words. No, she didn’t help matters, but she also wasn’t the one who started it. She was only defending herself against his attitude, which, admittedly, had not been the best. He let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry,” he said. Rena Rouge stopped for a second before turning around, staring at him in surprise. “I’m sorry for treating you like I did earlier. I shouldn’t have taken out my frustration on you. That was not cool.”

“It’s fine,” she waved her hand dismissively. “I get it. But you know I’m not the one you should apologize to, right?”

“I know.” Chat Noir’s shoulders slumped. “I’ll do that as soon as we find her.”

With shared determined nods, the two heroes ran in different directions to cover more ground. And hopefully, find Ladybug before anything worse happened.

* * *

Two hours had passed, and Chat Noir and Rena Rouge had not had the best luck. While one of them traversed the east side of Paris, the other checked the west side. Yet when they met up at the Eiffel Tower, neither was dragging Ladybug with them.

“She can’t just disappear like that,” Chat Noir grabbed at his hairs. “I’m usually the sneaky one. Hasn’t anyone said anything in the Ladyblog?”

“Nothing,” Rena Rouge shrugged, tapping at her phone. “Not even in the D.M.s.” She gave her phone for Chat Noir to hold. I’m guessing she doesn’t want to be found.”

“Why, though?” He rubbed his chin. “The way she looked earlier… I would’ve assumed she’d want to destroy something or hurt someone. Maybe she had a goal?”

“I don’t think so,” the redhead said, as she looked at the city. “If she went to destroy something, we would’ve heard about it by now.”

“So, what would she do then?”

Rena Rouge frowned, hazel eyes shifting from building to building.

“What if she sought shelter instead?” she said. “Somewhere she feels safe?”

Chat Noir thought for a moment. “Somewhere she can’t find the negativity we were practically oozing out.”

“Exactly,” Rena Rouge placed a fist in her hand. She then turned to him. “What’s the warmest, safest place you know?”

The boy’s heart skipped a beat, as if it knew the answer to that question before his mind. He thought for a moment, and if he was being honest with himself, there was only one place he had been in where he felt truly at home.

“Um, this may sound silly,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “But… Marinette’s house.”

Rena Rouge gave him a dumbfounded look, before…

“Pffthahahahahahahaha!”

“Jeez, I said it was silly, no need to make fun of me” Chat Noir whined, his face starting to feel warm.

“No, it’s just—” She laughed some more. “Sorry. I thought you were gonna say your house or something.”

“My house is the Arctic, compared to hers,” he admitted. “ _Anyway_ , your point?”

“Right,” she snorted. Chat Noir held in another whine. “You know, you make a valid point. There’s probably no safer place than the Dupain-Cheng’s. I think we should start there.”

“Really? You think Ladybug is close enough to go to Marinette’s for comfort?”

“Uh… Sure.” Rena Rouge shrugged, quickly turning in the direction of the bakery and starting her track.

Chat Noir followed after saving Alya’s phone, not fully convinced by her response. He also couldn’t help but feel her reasons for laughing were a little more than an unexpected answer. Nevertheless, he didn’t want to waste time questioning her motives, instead racing her to the apartment above _Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie_.

The two of them landed on Marinette’s balcony and peered into the trapdoor. Chat Noir’s eyes widened as he stared at the unexpected: Ladybug was curled up on Marinette’s bed, clutching a large pink cat plushie. Her eyes were squeezed shut, so he wasn’t sure whether she was still possessed or not.

“Oh, girl,” Rena Rouge said under her breath. She reached for the trap door, but Chat Noir stopped her.

“Please,” he whispered. “Let me.”

The redhead blinked and nodded, retracting her hand. Chat Noir opened as quietly as possible to lower himself into the room. Sitting on his knees, he softly placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Ladybug?” he called. She didn’t budge, so he tried again. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay. You don’t have to hide.”

Ladybug sighed, making relief wash over Chat Noir. She sat up and turned to look at him. Although her eyes were red, it wasn’t the unnatural red from earlier. Her irises were back to blue and the sclera was sore from what seemed like crying. The boy smiled softly, in hopes of reassuring her.

“It’s okay,” he repeated, a hand on her cheek. “You’re safe, Ladybug. You’re okay. You’re still you.”

She sniffed, a new batch of tears rolling down her face. The next thing he knew, the girl’s arms were around his neck and she started sobbing. While shocked, he still found enough consciousness to return the embrace, stroking her hair for good measure.


	16. Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who decided to revive XD I can’t keep a schedule, due to real life priorities, but I promise this story will be finished. Hopefully, before the end of the year.
> 
> Also, thank you for those of you who kept faith in me to continue this. I know I haven't responded to the comments, but I've read them, and I love you guys <3

About thirty minutes had passed since Ladybug started crying. At last, the sobs reduced to a few sniffles. Chat Noir was now rubbing her biceps, trying to comfort her as much as he could. It was the least he could do after the mess he made.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have treated you the way I did back at Alya’s. I know you wouldn’t tell her your identity just to spite me. That’s not who you are. I was a jerk to you guys, but especially to you. I know you better than that.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered.

“No, it’s not,” Chat Noir sighed. “I’m making your symptoms worse with my dumb attitudes. I promised you I would make things better and help find a cure, and I haven’t been living up to that promise. I’m sorry, and please don’t say it’s okay.”

“Then what am I supposed to say?”

Chat Noir placed a hand on his chin. “How ‘bout… You forgive me? And you won’t take the blame for my attitudes anymore?”

“But Chat, there’s nothing—”

He raised a finger, silencing her. “Please.”

Ladybug shook her head with a fond smile.

“Fine. Apology accepted. And I will no longer take the blame for your attitudes.”

“Thank you.” He let out a relieved breath. “Um… If you don’t mind me asking, how come you came to Marinette’s?”

Ladybug blinked. “What?”

“I mean, I know Marinette’s is the nicest place _I_ know, but I didn’t think _you’d_ think the same thing. Actually, now that I mention it,” he leaned on the edge, looking down the loft, “where _is_ Marinette? She should be here resting.”

“Wait, you don’t know?”

“Know what?” He turned back to her, tilting his head.

Ladybug gave him an incredulous look. Like he was missing the most obvious information in the entire world. Why was she staring at him like that?

“What?!” he repeated.

“N-nothing,” Ladybug stammered.

Chat Noir arched an eyebrow. “What am I missing?”

“It’s nothing, really,” Ladybug insisted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Um, how did you find me?”

“Rena,” he said. “She thought you could be hiding, and not running. So she asked me what’s the safest place I know, and that’s how we ended up here.”

“You think of this house as the safest place you know?”

“Well, more like the warmest,” he shrugged.

Although the sunlight was starting to fade, Chat Noir was able to clearly see a blush grow on the heroine’s cheeks. She also shuffled her hands together and seemed to be trying to contain a smile. With little success.

That was… new. Who would have thought complimenting Marinette’s home would elicit such reaction? Why, though?

“You seem to really like Marinette,” she commented, pointedly staring away from his eyes.

“Of course,” Chat Noir grinned. “She’s a great friend—I mean, person.”

“Friend?” Ladybug arched an eyebrow.

“We should get you outta here, before Marinette comes back,” the boy purposely avoided responding, already starting to climb up the skylight.

Although hesitant, Ladybug took the hand Chat Noir had extended towards her and followed him outside. There, sitting at the edge of the patio chair, was Rena Rouge, waiting for the other two.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“A little better,” Ladybug said quietly. “I think we need to go back to Master Fu’s, to see if he’s made any progress.”

“Should I go home then?” Rena asked.

“No,” Ladybug responded. “We need you to keep a lookout, just in case. Patrol for us, in the meantime. We’ll call you once we’re done.”

“Aye, aye, team leader.” Rena Rouge gave them a military-like salute, right before jumping out of sight.

Meanwhile, Ladybug and Chat Noir stood still on the balcony, each waiting for the other to move first. Unable to handle the silence, the boy spoke first.

“Do you want me to—”

“Did you really mean it?” Ladybug accidentally cut in, quickly looking abashed by her interruption.

“Did I mean what?”

“What you said about Marinette?” she shyly cleared up. “I feel like I’ve heard you say more positive things about her this whole day than in all the time we’ve been a team.”

“Well, I… Wait, are you jealous, M’Lady?” Chat Noir quipped, leaning towards her while waggling his eyebrows.

The heroine giggled. “No, _chaton_.” She lightly shoved his nose away with a finger. “You just… You keep surprising me. You weren’t just making a joke earlier when you said she’s your friend.”

“I was really joki—”

“You can’t fool me, Chat Noir,” Ladybug teased. “If you didn’t know her well, you wouldn’t be complimenting her so much.”

The boy’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you care so much?”

“I-I, um… Sh-she’s a nice—I-I mean, she _seems_ like a nice girl, a-and, um…”

She trailed off, nervously shifting her eyes back and forth between him and the darkening horizon. Chat Noir took a step closer, staring curiously at her. For some reason, it felt like he was missing something very important. Like Ladybug was trying to tell him something, but didn’t dare to.

Softly, he placed a hand on her shoulder, making those blue eyes, now shining like stars, turn up towards him.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” he whispered.

Ladybug opened and closed her mouth several times, yet no word was spoken. She took a deep breath, finally staring straight at him. With the sweetest smile he had ever seen on her lips, she said at last: “You can be very sweet sometimes, you know?”

Chat Noir gulped. He could feel his cheeks heat up. Was she trying to kill him? Because she was doing a great job at it at that moment. He had never seen this expression on his partner before. It almost looked…familiar.

The boy let out a cough, breaking whatever spell she had poised upon them. Ladybug turned to the railing, facing the fading sun, and stared at the few stars that were visible in the light polluted city.

“We should get going,” she said.

“I can carry you there, if you need me to.”

She turned her gaze back to him. “I’ll be fine.”

With those words, she launched her yo-yo at a nearby building and jumped away. Chat Noir followed, yet his mind was riddled with what had just happened. Something was nagging at the back of his head. Like it desperately wanted him to figure something out. And the more he thought about Ladybug in Marinette’s room, on her balcony, the more his heart made leaps. Like it knew something his mind couldn’t wrap up.

But as he saw Ladybug land in front of the massage parlor, Chat Noir remembered this was not the time to dwell on his unsaid feelings for the girl. She needed her partner, not the boy under the mask in love with her.


End file.
